Pages

Monday, March 12, 2018

When I saw the March Main Challenge at More Than Words, I knew it would be just perfect for this photo of our handsome son and adorable granddaughter! The Word Inspiration is "Comfortable." Doesn't Avery look perfectly comfortable and happy on her strong daddy's shoulders?

The colors in this challenge board are so beautiful. I've used all five colors featuring
gorgeous 49 and Market flowers and Scents of Nature Clockworks Paper .

A cluster of gorgeous 49 and Market flowers. The leaves are created with 49 and Market Gabi’s Texture Stamp Set. I stamped and heat embossed the image, then watercolor painted the leaves to coordinate with the focal paper and color challenge. The delightful layered die cut butterflies are also from 49 and Market and fit the color challenge perfectly.

The Dusty Attic Vine Corner Chipboard was brushed with crackle medium and set aside to dry overnight. I find that crackle medium has a way of flaking off, so I thinned gel medium with a little water and brushed it over the crackle. This acts like a glue holding the crackle in place, but thin enough to maintain the crackle texture. Next I painted with metallic paint and rubbed with Finnabair waxes to highlight the texture.

I've been making paper clay shapes lately, and in the process have collected the broken bits and pieces. I painted a few of them to tuck into the clusters.

A close-up of the sweet side cluster. You can see that I lightly brushed the edges of these lovely flowers with Finnabair gold and white gold waxes. I have a drawer of jewelry pieces and findings that I have picked up on clearance at local craft stores over the years. A bit of Amethyst Magic Finnabair Wax and this one is perfect to tuck in amongst the flowers.

The photo is framed with corrugated cardboard with layers of color and shimmer with metallic paints and Finnabair waxes. I added texture by applying Prills, seed beads and Finnabair microbeads to the frame with gel medium and more of the jewelry pieces are tucked in as well.

I found a wonderful distressed typewriter font called Trixie to use for my title. I printed it on white cardstock and colored with distress ink to coordinate.

Texture is created around the frame with frayed cheesecloth dyed dark green with Lindy's Stamp Gang Frosty Forest Green Starburst mist. The frayed edges are adhered by brushing with Finnabair Soft Matte Gel Medium. Before attaching the frame and cheesecloth, I used light molding paste with Art Anthology's Lotus Stencil for background texture. Violet gold metallic paint is thinned with water and brushed around the frame. I spritzed with a little more water and patted the edges lightly with paper towels to blend the color into the background.

I used more bits of dyed cheesecloth as well as mica flakes and an assortment of embellishments to add texture below the photo.

I made this frame for a friend, so I tucked in one of our little granddaughter's newborn photos to photograph it. Can you believe she's already a year old? Time flies by all too quickly!

Close-ups

A sweet floral cluster filled with gorgeous ScrapBerry's flowers. The adorable onesie is fussy cut from the My Little Star Collection New Arrival Tag page. I've also tucked in a sweet polymer rattle from the Kids' Fun Set and centered a Fairy Tale Resin Flower on the butterfly.

I heat embossed the gorgeous Dusty attic heart with white embossing powder then with glittery holographic powder. Then to add a bit of grunge, I rubbed shadows onto the heart with Finnabair's Rose Gold Wax.

Here I used more gorgeous Scrapberry's flowers. I softened them by dry brushing with white gesso, then added sparkle with bits of chunky glass glitter and prills. The darling rolling horse is from the Kids' Fun Set and you can see the pretty Versailles Resin Chrysanthemums. The pram is also cut from the My Little Star Tag page.

The Rose Garden Polymer flower flourish was just perfect to center the stamped and embossed sentiment. I rubbed the edges lightly with the same color ink used to stamp the sentiment for some soft color. Lot's of texture here with lace, crackle, prills, microbead, and Finnabair's Glass Glitter and Art Stones.

This sweet butterfly is from the Elegy Butterfly Polymer set. I brushed it with gesso, then colored with mist and Finnabair's Art Wax.

The frame was brushed with gesso, then spread with crackle paste and allowed to dry over night for the cracks to fully develop. Crackle has a way of flaking off for me, so I thinned down some PVA glue with water and brushed with it over the dried crackle and set the frame aside to dry once more. The frame was randomly brushed teal and pink color sprays to settle into the cracks, then lightly dry brushed with metallic paints in similar colors over their coordinating colors - ie pink paint over the pink mist areas. Once dry, I lightly dry brushed with white gesso to bring out the texture.

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Weddings are such special occasions! ScrapBerry's gorgeous Winter Joy Collection was absolutely perfect to create a card for the sweet couple's snowy winter wedding.

Tips and Techniques

You can see the gorgeous ScrapBerry's cream gardenia here used as the focal point of the cluster. I filled out the arrangement with Wild Orchid Crafts flowers. They are dry brushed with white gesso to soften the colors and give a snowy feel. Loops of ScrapBerry's Wax String add so much lovely texture tucked behind the flowers and their Wedding 2 Resin Chrysanthemum is a sweet little touch. White ink spatter adds to a wintry snowy feel, and I've distressed the paper edges to give a rustic, shabby look.

These ScrapBerry's Winter Joy papers have such soft and delightful designs that worked so perfectly for this shabby mixed media wedding card. The ScrapBerry's Polymer wedding sentiment was brushed with gesso, then when dry with gold color spray. It's finished off with a dusting of super fine glitter that reminds me of glistening snow.

I added a chipboard chandelier from Dusty Attic colored with embossing powder, then rubbed with a bit of Finnabair's Rose Gold Wax and bejeweled with teardrop pearls. The background is stenciled with a mixture of gel medium, microbeads and glitter, then dusted with more super fine glitter while still wet. The Art Anthology Lotus stencil reminds me of the wedding ring quilt my grandmother created and gave to us on our wedding day.

One final look.

I hope you've been inspired to grab your Scrapberry's products
to create a card for someone special in your life.

Saturday, February 10, 2018

My dear sister lost her beloved kitty recently. She had Trixie for 18 years, and she was a special part of her family. I created this special sympathy card for her featuring ScrapBerry's A Furry Little Story Collection. The tiger striped kitten looks just like Trixie and so perfect for this card.

Of course I had to add mixed media textures. I used the gorgeous Art Anthology Keyhole Stencil with Prima Light Paste to create texture, then added colors pulled from the sweet pillow and crown using Lindy's Stamp Gang Starburst Mists. Microbeads, Prills, and Mica Flakes are added around the cluster for additional texture.

The kitten looks like she is playfully batting at something, so I added this Elegy Polymer Butterfly which I colored with several shades of creamy Prima Finnabair art wax.

Here's a little tip. I always brush my background papers with clear gesso - mostly to reduce warping. Here's another great benefit. When spritzing color mist, I covered the little kitty in teal. Not a great color for a cat, but since I had brushed over her with clear gesso, I was able to use a damp paper towel to dab off all of the teal color to save my project.

Saturday, January 27, 2018

I have a new ScrapBerry's project to share with you. Valentine's Day is just around the corner. I don't know about you, but my husband isn't into girly pink hearts, so I really enjoy coming up with ideas on how to show my love with a more grungy look. Here's my Valentine card for him featuring ScrapBerry's fabulously masculine Adventure Awaits and Words Live Forever Collections. I've also used ScrapBerry's gorgeous Silver Wings and a polymer heart from the Vintage Circus Collection.

Close-Ups

The background is a sheet from the 6x6" Adventure Awaits collection. The Memos page from the Words Live Forever collections has wonderful vintage paper pieces along with the clock that I cut out and layered in the center of the card. The edges are inked to give a grungy vintage feel. The Vintage Circus Polymer Heart was brushed with black gesso, then texture added with Prima Mini Art Stones in soft matte gel.

The ScrapBerry's Metal Wings are a focal point centered with a corrugated heart in theme with Valentine's Day. I have quite a collection of gears and masculine embellishments. I have a pulled an assortment of gears, and assorted pieces to arrange around the heart and sentiment. Before adhering, I painted everything with black gesso. Once the elements were in place, I brushed with Prima Rust and Patina Effect Paste, then rubbed with several colors of Prima art wax to bring out the amazing textures. Around the edges I've added texture with Prima Art Stones, mica flakes, and Prima microbeads.

I simply adore the woodgrain and gear images on the background paper.

It makes my day when I find an old rusty washer laying on the ground. My dear friend Valerie mentioned my obsession with rusty washers to her husband, and he now collects them for me as well. This washer is one of those sweet finds.

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Valentine's Day is right around the corner, so for my first ScrapBerry's project of 2018, I created three sweet Valentine themed artist trading cards featuring the gorgeous Cherished Jewels Collection with colors that are just perfect for this sweet holiday.

Close-Ups

I trimmed down one of the cards from the Tags Romance & Tiaras page to fit this ATC and adhered it to the card with 3D matte gel. I added a layer of crackle to the corners. Once the crackle was dry, I stamped a flourish with the Elegy clear stamp set in coordinating permanent ink. The texture is spritzed with a color spray to highlight the crackle, then rubbed with several colors of wax. The cluster features a ScrapBerry's Clove Lilac Paper Flower highlighted with gold wax and a Wedding Resin Chrysanthemum.

I cut two ACT sized pieces from one of the 6x6" papers to create this and the next cards. I spread the crackle paste around the design elements on the paper, allowing them to show through. I found the delicate heart chipboard at Michaels and covered it with Stampendous Shabby Pink Embossing Enamel. The gold and glitter in this enamel pair so perfectly with the rest of the card.

I picked a couple sentiments from the Tim Holtz Small Talk sentiment collection and rubbed them with waxes to distress and color. A few white Prills around the hearts finish off these mixed media Valentines.

Friday, January 5, 2018

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and New Years with friends and family. I received such lovely gifts for Christmas and wanted to express my thanks with a handcrafted card. Today I'm sharing a mixed media card created with ScrapBerry's beautiful "Home Sweet Home" collection along with more of their embellishments and flowers.

Close-Ups

I found a little sentiment stamp to fit this Laurel Wreath Charm. I stamped onto white cardsock, adhered the charm, then trimmed the paper around the edge. Gorgeous ScrapBerry's flowers form this lovely cluster with a polymer bird, resin flowers and a crystal sticker from the Elegy collection tucked into the edges.

I stamped randomly on the background with ScrapBerry's Fairy Tale Stamps and spattered with white ink, then filled in around the cluster with chunky glass glitter and Prills. To soften the flowers, I dry brushed with white gesso.

Monday, December 11, 2017

Today I'm sharing a mixed media Christmas card featuring ScrapBerry's gorgeous Winter Wonderland Collection paired with their lovely paper flowers and embellishments. I just adore how these non-traditional colors came together to create such a festive holiday card!

Close-Ups

ScrapBerry's paper flowers are the focus of this sweet cluster along with the gorgeous Winter Joy Convex Frame. I fussy cut the sentiment and candle from the Winter Wonderland Magical Wishes page. The Versailles polymer piece fits so perfectly below the sentiment. I brushed it with white gesso, then spritzed with Lindy's Stamp Gang mists and rubbed with Prima white gold and vintage gold waxes.

I stenciled a flourish design onto the background with light molding paste, then spritzed with color mists and rubbed with waxes. I also added texture with Prills, microbeads, and chunky glass glitter as well as a few iridescent sequins.

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Christmas is just around the corner, and I've been busy creating holiday cards for family and friends. This sweet Christmas card with non-traditional colors features ScrapBerry's beautiful Elegantly Festive Collection along with gorgeous ScrapBerry's flowers and brass trumpet charm. This collection has more of a trendy/clean and simple style, but of course I had to grunge it up with a bit of gesso to fit my shabby mixed media style.

Close-Ups

These ScrapBerry's flowers create a sweet cluster. The paper flowers are dry brushed with a little white gesso for a soft shabby touch. I also tucked in this Christmas trumpet charm for a festive feel. The cluster is accented with wintry Prills and shaved ice flakes. I cut and embossed white cardstock to create the dimensional snowflake rubbed with coordinating ink, then Prima's Finnabair metallic waxes for a little shimmer.

In addition to dry brushing the paper with gesso, I also stenciled glittery texture paste diagonally across the background with a Tim Holtz Speckles Layering Stencil to add more wintry shimmer. The sentiment block cut from the Elegantly Festive Cards 1 page is edged with coordinating Distress ink, and a bit of tattered cheese cloth is tucked underneath the sentiment and other elements for a soft touch.

I hope you've been inspired to grab your ScrapBerry's supplies

to create some unique and beautiful Christmas cards for friends and family.

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Our sweet daughter-in-law took this adorable photo of Avery with her first pumpkin at the picking patch. I couldn't resist making a fall themed layout with the gorgeous Scraps of Elegance "Falling Leaves" Kit. I've also created a process video tutorial to share how I've put it all together including the fun chipboard pumpkin accent which has been painted, heat embossed, glittered, and gilded in four easy steps.

FTC COMPENSATION DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

I am blessed to work in an industry I love. In the spirit of full disclosure, I am currently working as a freelance designer in some capacity for the following companies: Scraps of Elegance and ScrapBerry's. While I am compensated by these companies in product, I maintain the freedom as an independent designer to say what I truly think of their products. I will never recommend something that I don't personally use and enjoy.